Projets novateurs réalisés

Increasing the expression of frataxin with the CRISPR system

Friedreich is an hereditary disease, which in due to a mutation of the frataxin gene. This mutation leads to a reduced production of the frataxin protein. This leads to oxidative stress and death of the cells. The death of the neurons and cardiomyocytes are responsible for progressive severe neurological and cardiac symptoms. The aim of the research project is to increase the expression of frataxin by targeting the promoter with a gRNA that will form a complex with a Cas9-VP64 protein leading to an increase expression of the frataxin gene that will hopefully reduce the symptoms of the disease. Experiments will be conducted in cells of Friedreich patients and in a mouse model of the disease.

Diagnostic sectoriel en appui aux microdistilleries du Québec

Ce diagnostic sectoriel sera réalisé en partenariat avec l’Union québécoise des microdistilleries (UQMD), qui regroupe la grande majorité des distilleries du Québec avec près de 60 membres, générant plus de 90 millions de dollars de ventes générées en 2021 dans l’industrie. Sa mission est d’encourager le développement de l’industrie québécoise de la microdistillation, valoriser la fabrication et le commerce de produits distillés à la propriété, et assurer la promotion de ces spiritueux au Québec, au Canada et dans le monde. L’Union québécoise des microdistilleries (UQMD) est affilié au Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec (CTAQ) depuis sa création en 2012 et représente les détenteurs de permis industriel et les détenteurs du permis artisanal, soit la grande majorité du volume des ventes de spiritueux au Québec. La mission du CTAQ est d’orchestrer l’excellence et la croissance durable du secteur de la transformation alimentaire du Québec en appuyant ses parties prenantes et en unifiant l’écosystème.
L’industrie des microdistilleries québécoises fait face à plusieurs enjeux. Entre autres, les deux tiers des microdistilleries québécoises seraient déficitaires et plusieurs lois et réglementations gouvernementales les impactent, dont entre autres les taxes d’accise, la majoration pour les ventes effectuées sur les lieux de vente, et la distribution à la Société des Alcool du Québec et aux restaurateurs. Je réaliserai une étude permettant d’appuyer Ce diagnostic sectoriel sera réalisé en partenariat avec l’Union québécoise des microdistilleries (UQMD), qui regroupe la grande majorité des distilleries du Québec avec près de 60 membres, générant plus de 90 millions de dollars de ventes générées en 2021 dans l’industrie. Sa mission est d’encourager le développement de l’industrie québécoise de la microdistillation, valoriser la fabrication et le commerce de produits distillés à la propriété, et assurer la promotion de ces spiritueux au Québec, au Canada et dans le monde. L’Union québécoise des microdistilleries

Optimisation du processus de partage de la documentation de relâche avec les Private Label

Le projet de recherche vise à améliorer la façon dont les documents essentiels pour la mise sur le marché des produits sous marque privée sont partagés avec les partenaires. La stagiaire sera chargée de rassembler, vérifier et rédiger des documents (comme les certificats de conformité et d’analyse) tout en collaborant avec différentes équipes pour garantir leur exactitude et leur conformité aux normes réglementaires. Elle sera également engagée dans l’évaluation des outils de communication existants et proposera des améliorations pour rendre le processus plus fluide et cohérent. En cartographiant le processus et en identifiant les points critiques, elle élaborera des solutions visant à réduire les retards et à améliorer la coordination entre les départements impliqués. Ce projet permettra à l’organisation de renforcer son efficacité opérationnelle tout en assurant une communication transparente et fiable avec ses partenaires, ce qui est essentiel pour maintenir la conformité réglementaire et la satisfaction des clients.

Stage à l’étranger – Inclusion en emploi des personnes ayant des incapacités

Ce projet de recherche vise à comprendre et à comparer les pratiques d’accompagnement des personnes en situation de handicap au travail entre la France et le Québec. Par l’observation et l’interrogation de professionnels en France, des données seront collectées et comparées à celles obtenues au Québec. Ce travail permettra de mieux comprendre comment ces pratiques peuvent être améliorées et adaptées pour favoriser l’intégration professionnelle des personnes en situation de handicap. Les résultats de cette recherche contribueront à enrichir les connaissances dans ce domaine et pourraient avoir un impact positif sur les politiques et les pratiques d’accompagnement, tant au Québec qu’en France.

Engagement and Long-term Outcomes in Opioid Agonist Treatment in the Rapid Access Addiction Care Clinic Setting in British Columbia’s Fraser Health Authority

British Columbia’s Fraser Health Authority (FHA) faces challenges of lacking linkages to provincial administrative data to monitor long-term outcomes among their OAT clients. This one-year Mitacs Accelerate initiative will be undertaken in collaboration with FHA using both provincial administrative data held by the trainee’s supervisor and FHA’s summarized statistics data to characterize the client base and long-term outcomes of RAAC clients, addressing critical gaps in FHA’s internal monitoring and evaluation capabilities. This is the first project directed towards OAT long-term outcomes in RAAC clients in FHA. Collaboration with provincial administrative data can broaden the extension of follow-up of clients who transfer treatment to other HAs, thereby improving the capacity to expand upon current limitations regarding client follow-up. The findings have the potential to shape and improve FHA’s policy framework, ensuring it better aligns with real-world applications. The insights provide an in-depth understanding of RAAC clinics, facilitating the development of strategies to address existing challenges, which enhances the utilization of RAAC and improves clients’ health outcomes.

Bridging the Gap: Leveraging community-academic partnerships to improve evidence-based psychological interventions for diverse communities

The Ontario Structured Psychotherapy program (OSP) provides centralized access to mental health services and was developed as a stepped-care model, which allows clients to be matched to the appropriate level of service for them. However, resources are limited for in-depth analysis and the experiences of clients and clinicians remain relatively unknown in these early stages. The purpose of this project is to: a) examine whether systemic and structural barriers to uptake and engagement vary by sociodemographic and intersectional characteristics; and b) explore factors that influence barriers to engagement from a client and clinician perspective, particularly for diverse populations in the Brampton, Halton, and Mississauga (BHM) regions. As part of this one-year foundational study, 20 clinician and 14 client participants will be recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Additionally, data will be analysed from over 1700 clients enrolled in the OSP-BHM program. Results of this project can inform ways in which the OSP-BHM program can be adapted to better serve diverse communities and reduce the disparities in mental health care. Benefits include increased research collaboration, capacity building, and enhanced student training. Social benefits resulting from this project focus on expanding access to mental health, particularly for diverse and historically marginalized populations.

Novel Specific Coagulant/Flocculant Pairs for Mineral Tailings Treatment

Water management and treatment of mineral tailings and oil sands tailings are becoming critical challenges for the sustainable development of natural resources exploration. Reclamation of these tailings is challenging due to a solid phase composed mainly by very fine particles and many other chemicals. With these characteristics, the tailings form a very stable colloidal system and needs to be stored in open ponds. If left untreated, these tailings take decades to settle the recovery of water and large areas occupied by the tailing’s ponds. Coagulation and flocculation have been used to promote the sedimentation of these particles and enable the separation of released water and solid sediments. Duo to its complex composition, there is no mature technology capable of effectively treating tailings and completely eliminating the use of tailings ponds. This project aims to develop an innovative method that selectively bridge the fine particles suspended in tailings, forming aggregates with low water retention, precipitating at the bottom of the pond. We plan to synthesize novel targeted flocculation systems whereby a bifunctional coagulant adheres in patches to the negatively charged tailings particles, followed by a specific cross-linking with the flocculant, which will be composed by a functionalized natural or synthetic polymer with high molecular weight.

Rôles des enzymes PP2A-B56 aux centrosomes durant la mitose

Ce projet sera mené à Montréal par M. Léo Millot lors de son stage de Master de l’Université Aix-Marseille. M. Millot intégrera l’équipe dirigée par Vincent Archambault à l’Institut de Recherche en Immunologie et en Cancérologie de l’Université de Montréal. Ce laboratoire se spécialise dans les mécanismes qui contrôlent la division cellulaire. Le projet visera à comprendre les rôles d’enzymes PP2A-B56 dans le fonctionnement des centrosomes qui fonctionnent dans la mitose. Notre hypothèse est que les enzymes PP2A-B56 contrôlent l’activité des centrosomes en modifiant certaines de leurs protéines. Une combinaison d’approches génétiques, biochimiques et microscopiques sera utilisée avec la mouche drosophile comme modèle. Les mécanismes de la mitose étant fortement similaires entre espèces animales, les résultats obtenus permettront de mieux comprendre les cellules humaines. Les connaissances acquises pourraient servir à entrevoir de nouvelles thérapies contre les cancers. Le projet permettra de développer les liens entre le laboratoire d’accueil et l’équipe dirigée par le co-superviseur Pr. Frédéric André du Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille. Le projet fournira au candidat stagiaire Léo Millot la formation et les bases scientifiques nécessaires pour son projet de doctorat qui sera initié au laboratoire du Pr Archambault à Montréal au terme du stage.

Developing an Ergonomic Risk Assessment Tool and Work Rotation Plan

The overall objective of this project is to reduce ergonomic risk and the potential for workplace injury across the entire production facility. Repetition, force and posture are factors that can lead to fatigue and injury among workers in a manufacturing setting. By developing an ergonomic demands and risk assessment tool based on current research, the risk associated with each workstation in the facility will be quantified, and recommendations to reduce or eliminate risk of potential injury will be provided. Job rotation schedules will also be proposed that utilize the data from the ergonomic assessments to vary the type of physical demands that worker are exposed to in different areas within the facility. This will reduce the chance of workplace injuries and hopefully increase worker satisfaction.

Une plate-forme interactive pour l’analyse des données génétiques et climatiques

Advancements in DNA sequencing technology throughout the 1980s triggered a transformative shift in evolutionary biology. This groundbreaking period led to the emergence of the field of phylogeography, introduced by John Avise and colleagues just over three decades ago. This highly integrative discipline delves into the intricate connections between xthe history of Earth, ecology, and the diversification of life forms. Phylogeography entails tracing the geographic patterns of the evolution of species, where new species originate from common ancestors, by studying their migrations across different regions.

The goal of this project is to develop and implement an innovative, open-source software platform that stands out for analyzing phylogenetic trees based on phylogeographic processes. This user-friendly tool will be accessible to the scientific community, complemented by a comprehensive guide and various datasets. Its capabilities will empower researchers to address scientific inquiries, such as comprehending the correlation between genetic makeup, geographical distributions of species, and climatic parameters.

The platform will encompass a species mapping feature, a graph generator, and an interactive analysis tool, constituting the core components of the dashboard. The new webpage or the new application will be deployed on an institutional server, enabling simultaneous interaction by multiple users.

Autonomous Landing and Recharging of Indoor UAVs

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are expected to carry out tasks of increased complexity, expanding in indoor environments such as warehouses and healthcare settings. However, indoor environments impose unique challenges to UAVs as the enclosed space is relatively small and safety is crucial for people working in the same space. Furthermore, the unavailability of GPS leads to the reliance of onboard sensors, and the performance is influenced by environmental factors such as lighting. The development of an autonomous landing system for indoor UAVs with required safety and efficiency is a high priority research topic. The primary objective of the proposed research project is to develop a comprehensive landing and recharging station for indoor UAVs. The system will enhance UAV endurance and usability for various indoor applications, facilitating continuous UAV operations without human interventions. A battery recharge and monitoring system will also be developed, including a docking method to align the UAV for contact-based recharging and to ensure efficient, fast and safe recharge of UAV batteries. Two interns are planned for the proposed project: one focuses on the investigation and development of autonomous landing control and the other on development of a recharging station for indoor UAVs.

Prediction des retards et de la performance de ponctualite aux arrivees et departs de YUL Aeroport International Montreal-Trudeau

THIS IS A GENERIC TEXT PUT IN PLACE AS THERE WAS NO PROJECT OVERVIEW